The Heavenward Path Read Online Free PDF Page B

she was at the formality in the Good People's families. But are we not taught to show respect for our elders? This is the way I have always known things, and I cannot imagine being any other way.
        Papa knelt on a cushion near me. He seemed thinner than before, and though his gladness shone through his eyes, there was a tightness in his face that disturbed me. "And you, Mitsuko. I am glad to see you are well. It pleases me that you returned so soon after I sent my letter. I had been worried that your thoughts were drifting so far from worldly things that you had forgotten your family."
        "I could never do that," I said, even though the strictest Buddhist teachings require that the seeker do exactly that. "It was important that I come home right away."
        "Just so. You understand that your duty is important. I always knew you were a smart girl. How was your life at the temple? Did they treat you well?"
        I didn't have much to tell him. Life at the temple was simple and dull-it was meant to be, so that one could concentrate on prayers and meditation.
        "Well," said Papa, "your life will become much more interesting now. You will make quite an entrance at Court. I have been planning it carefully. You will be accompanied by only the finest furnishings and servants."
         So much for Suzume's hopes , I thought, a little sadly. "Papa, if you please," I said hurriedly, for I feared I might not get another chance, "there is something I must ask for before I am sent to Court."
        "Of course! Ask what you will. Would you like some new kimonos? Or a specially painted screen? Perhaps a bronze Chinese mirror? Nothing shall be withheld from you."
        This heartened me. I took a deep breath and stared at the floor and began. "Nothing like that, Papa. Do you remember I told you about running away with Amaiko when we were going to be taken away by Lord Tsubushima's men? And we ran off into the forest and took shelter in a kami shrine. While there, I promised the kami of the shrine that I would see that the shrine was repaired if the kami would aid us. And the tengu came, and we were rescued, but I forgot about the promise to the kami. Now the kami is angry with me and is bringing bad fortune, and I have got to see that the shrine is repaired or something terrible will happen!"
        When I looked up, Papa was scowling. "What is this nonsense? What drivel did they fill your head with at the temple?"
        "It is not nonsense, Papa! The priest Dento, who helped us in Tamba Province, told me so. You don't want me to bring dishonor and bad fortune on our family, do you? Surely it would be a simple thing to have the shrine repaired-it is close by the mountain lodge where Sotoko and her husband now live."
        "Simple? What can you be thinking, Mitsuko? I do not own that land. It is owned by Lord Tsubushima, and he would be responsible for the shrine. I have no wish to owe him any favors by asking it of him. But you are still a child, and I should not expect you to understand the politics of the wider world. Put off these foolish thoughts. Besides, we are a Buddhist family. What have we to do with Shinto shrines?"
        "Dento says that when we were the Nakatomi, Shinto was important to our family."
        "That was long ago and has nothing to do with us now."
        I noticed then that his hands were trembling. "What is wrong, Papa?"
        "You. It is you who are wrong. I thought you understood the importance of what is expected of you, but I see I may be mistaken." He stood and began to pace the room. "We are Fujiwara. Our clan has been called 'the shadow cast by the Sun that is the Emperor.' We have served the Imperial family for centuries, our power in the Empire unwavering."
        "I know this," I said softly.
        He turned and glared at me. "Do you? Yet you want to go running off to temples and kami shrines when the future of your family is at stake? I see that